Woodward: Could Be Years Before We Know if Obamacare Works

There's more than politics behind the lack of information coming out about Obamacare, Washington Post Associate Editor Bob Woodward said Sunday, adding that it will take years before it's clear whether the president's signature healthcare law is working.

Woodward, sitting on a "Fox News Sunday" panel with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, former World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz, and Fox News contributor Juan Williams, said even supporters of the healthcare plan think that it may be several years before it starts to work.

"Yesterday I talked to a physician — very knowledgeable, involved supporter of Obamacare — and I said ‘So what’s the bottom line?’” said Woodward.

"He said, 'Obamacare is like a car stuck in first gear,'" Woodward continued. "I asked, 'Well when's it gonna get into second gear?' And he said, 'The problem is that the transmission is in the shop for repairs.' When does it get to second gear, and he said 'Honestly, years!'"

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He continued that it's not just about the program working, but it may take months or even years to measure what the "real numbers" are when it comes to determining how many people have obtained insurance and how it is helping or harming their healthcare issues.

"The way that these numbers are thrown around, what credibility do they have on either side? I think zero," said Woodward.

Wolfowitz said it is ironic that Obamacare may actually leave Americans unprotected that help them.

Meanwhile, show host Chris Wallace asked Ingraham why the White House isn't providing numbers on Obamacare and how many people have paid for their policies.

"Look, if the facts were really good, I think [White House press secretary] Jay Carney would be crowing the fact that, 'Wow, 42 percent of young people have now signed up, they're paying their premiums, we’re on track,'" she replied."'We might be a little low but we're strong, we're vital, we're moving forward.' I think they would do that, right? I think it doesn't make any sense for them not to tell us."
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There's more than politics behind the lack of information coming out about Obamacare, Washington Post Associate Editor Bob Woodward said Sunday, adding that it will take years before it's clear whether the president's signature healthcare law is working.